FROM SWEATSHOP FLOORS TO BROADWAY DOORS:
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES
SEAMS TOGETHER A RUNWAY HIT
The empowering new musical Real Women Have Curves, which opened Sunday night at the James Earl Jones Theatre, is a feel-good, crowd-pleasing celebration of identity, ambition, and body positivity. Based on Josefina López’s play and the acclaimed HBO film (co-written with George LaVoo), this stage adaptation—first developed at American Repertory Theater in 2023—arrives on Broadway with infectious energy and timely resonance.
Jennifer Sánchez, Aline Mayagoitia, Sandra Valls,
Florencia Cuenca, Shelby Acosta, and Carla Jimenez
Set in East Los Angeles during the summer of 1987, the show centers on Ana García (Tatianna Córdoba, making a luminous Broadway debut), a first-generation Mexican-American teen with dreams of avoiding her family’s garment factory for a Columbia University classroom. But as her undocumented parents and sister face mounting pressures—including a grueling 200-dress order from a high-end buyer—Ana is pulled between her future and her family’s present.
Tatianna Córdoba
Córdoba’s Ana is a charming and whip-smart protagonist whose arc blossoms into a touching coming-of-age story. Her chemistry with Florencia Cuenca as her no-nonsense sister Estela is particularly touching. Cuenca, notably the first Mexican immigrant to originate a co-lead role on Broadway, brings courage and warmth to a character exhausted by sacrifice. As the formidable matriarch Carmen, Justina Machado delivers a grounded performance that anchors the family tension in emotional truth. Her balance of humor and judgment is spot-on.
Florencia Cuenca and company
The factory ensemble is filled with sharply drawn characters who each get their moment in the spotlight. Aline Mayagoitia’s dry-witted Itzel and Sandra Valls’s masculine Prima Fulvia are stand-outs. Carla Jimenez’s big-hearted Pancha, along with Shelby Acosta and Jennifer Sánchez, round out the industrious seamstresses with less stage time but palpable presence.
Justina Machado
The musical’s B-plot—Ana’s tentative romance with the sweetly awkward Henry (Mason Reeves)—provides levity, particularly in the charming number “Doin’ It Anyway,” which ends on a blackout cue with Henry in midair over Ana in bed, hilariously timed with the call by production stage manager Tripp Phillips.
Mason Reeves and Tatianna Córdoba
This triumph is directed and choreographed with finesse by Broadway veteran Sergio Trujillo, whose training while choregraphing Jersey Boys, On Your Feet!, and Ain’t Too Proud helped prepare him for the seamless scene transitions between intimate moments and ensemble staging. Arnulfo Maldonado’s scenic design doesn’t miss a beat in unfolding a dynamic storytelling canvas, aided by Hana S. Kim’s expressive video design that morphs scenic elements into bursts of visual poetry.
The company of Real Women Have Curves: The Musical
The score, with music and lyrics by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, pulses with Latin pop, ranchera, and contemporary musical flair. While several songs begin predictably with guitar and end with a familiar “button,” the variety of music brings about entertaining character interior monologues, revealing insights and goals. Act II’s “Real Women Have Curves” is an exceptional stand-out, delivered with such infectious confidence that it nearly halts the show with euphoric applause. The showstopper underscores the musical’s unflinching embrace of body acceptance—delightfully realized in a scene where the factory women strip to their underwear to combat sweltering heat and societal shame.
Tatianna Córdoba and Aline Mayagoitia
Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin’s book smartly balances humor with poignant depictions of undocumented life in America. The stakes are real. When one worker is detained, Ana is forced to grapple with the limits of her privilege and the danger her personal information could bring to her family and co-workers. Thankfully, the musical doesn’t shy away from such realities, even as it delivers the happy ending expected from a Broadway musical comedy.
Florencia Cuenca, Tatianna Córdoba and Justina Machado
And uplift it does—culminating in a celebratory, dazzling fashion show by costume designers Wilberth Gonzalez and Paloma Young, bringing a vibrant finale to life. It’s a fitting metaphor: this community, so often unseen, takes center stage, bold, beautiful, and unashamed.
Mauricio Mendoza and Justina Machado
Real Women Have Curves is more than a feel-good musical—it’s a joyful reclamation of space, voice, and self-worth. In a time when immigration, identity, and body image remain hot-button issues, this production sings out with humor, heart, and unapologetic power.
Tatianna Córdoba and company
photos by Julieta Cervantes
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical
James Earl Jones Theatre
for tickets, visit Telecharge
in-person rush, digital rush, and lottery tickets available
for more info, visit Real Women
Gregory Fletcher is an author, a theater professor, a playwright, director, and stage manager. His craft book on playwriting is entitled Shorts and Briefs, and publishing credits include two YA novels (Other People’s Crazy, and Other People’s Drama), 2 novellas in the series Inclusive Bedtime Stories, 2 short stories in The Night Bazaar series, and several essays. Website, Facebook, Instagram.
